


The Five Pictures on Yuuri's Wall

by Nara



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 08:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13700730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nara/pseuds/Nara
Summary: ...and the one on Viktor's.Yuuri Katsuki had a great admiration for Viktor Nikiforov. He also had several posters of the man. Probably too many.





	The Five Pictures on Yuuri's Wall

**Author's Note:**

> I've been watching the Olympic Figure Skating at PyeongChang and hoping for inspiration. It didn't come to me, but this did instead!

Yuuri got his first poster of Viktor when he was nine years old. It was a present from Yuuko – a promotional poster of Viktor’s free skate from the most recent junior division grand prix. Viktor had won gold.  Yuuri was awed.

“Thank you, Yuuko! So cool!” 

Yuuko grinned. “I have one too! My mom bought them! We can look at them for inspiration!”

Yuuri nodded slowly, slight blush on his face. He looked down at the poster – Viktor’s costume sparkled even in the poster as his long silver hair whipped behind him in a ponytail. Viktor’s ice blue eyes were focused, but not facing the camera, as he was caught in an action shot with his leg stretched out behind him, gliding across the ice.

When Yuuri got home, he ran to his mother to show her his new prize.

“Can you help me hang it on the wall?”

Hiroko chuckled and carefully took the poster from Yuuri, making certain not to fold or crease it in any way. She hung the poster in the middle of the wall on Yuuri’s room, across from Yuuri’s bed, so he could see it when he lay down. Yuuri hugged his mom. 

“Thank you!”

When Yuuri crawled into bed that night, before he turned out his light, he looked again at his poster of Viktor. He smiled slightly, and determination flashed in his eyes.

“One day, I’ll skate on the same ice as you, Viktor,” He told the poster, “and then I’ll win gold too, and you’ll look at me and think, ‘that kid is cool!’”

And with that thought, Yuuri turned out his light and settled in for sleep, Viktor watching over him like the patron saint of ice skating.

~~~~

When Yuuri was thirteen, he had what he would later call his Great Bisexual Awakening. He knew he had a crush on Yuuko, but she liked Takeshi, so he shyly stayed in the background of their burgeoning relationship. It was when Viktor’s photoshoot with his dog Makkachin had come out as the cover story of _International Figure Skating Magazine_ that he realized his admiration for Viktor might be more than that of just admiration for his skating.

It wasn’t a sexy photoshoot. If anything, it was domestic. There was a four page spread with numerous photos featuring Viktor and Makkachin – playing in the park, going for a jog, lounging around at home – while the article discussed Viktor’s career as a figure skater and what he did in his personal time. There was a poster insert of Viktor hugging Makkachin. Even though it was kind of embarrassing, he put that poster on the wall, prominently in the space above his desk. He had to move some of his other posters of Viktor skating to make room.

Yuuri looked up at the poster and sighed. _He’s just so…cute!_

Yuuri didn’t think much of it at the time, but as he slowly sought more information about Viktor’s personal life, trying to get to know the skater beyond what he could see on the ice, he realized that the photoshoot with Makkachin had been a turning point.

He _admired_ Viktor. He admired his skating. But he also _liked_ Viktor. Not that he knew anything about him besides what was in interviews and on his MySpace page. It was a celebrity crush, that was all. But Yuuri was still determined to skate on the same ice as Viktor one day. Maybe then – when he could meet Viktor as a champion – Yuuri wouldn’t even hope.

It would be enough to meet his idol and be his equal. He would never expect anything more.

~~~~

Yuuri bit his bottom lip, quickly looking around to make sure no one was staring at him ogling the picture of Viktor on the cover of fashion magazine _Vogue_. He picked up the magazine and stuffed it into the bottom of his basket. He didn’t make eye contact with the bored cashier as she scanned his items, slightly embarrassed. He knew the cashier didn’t care, but he was anxious anyway.

When he got home, he gave the groceries to his mother and grabbed the magazine, rushing past Mari who raised an eyebrow, but then shook her head.

Yuuri wasn’t sure what he was doing – it’s not like it was a dirty magazine, and it’s not like he was going to turn it into one. But he was still embarrassed by the enormity of his crush on Viktor, and though his family knew (how could they not? His room was practically a shrine to the older skater) he wanted to keep his feelings private.

This was Viktor’s first photoshoot since he cut off his hair.

When Viktor first cut his hair, Yuuri, like many of Viktor’s fans, was devastated.  But the article in this magazine, as well as the pictures, claimed to have the exclusive on the why and what next.

Yuuri flipped through the magazine until he got to the article on Viktor. He stared…and stared. Running his fingers over the page, Yuuri took in Viktor’s new look for the first time. He looked elegant, mature.  The sharply pressed suit that he was wearing further added to the look – making Viktor look sophisticated – he truly belonged in the fashion magazine.

Yuuri wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, certain he was drooling. From the page, Viktor stared at him, one eye hidden by wispy silver locks, the other seeming to look into Yuuri’s very soul.

Carefully, Yuuri tore the page out from the magazine and found a place for it on his wall. Smoothing it down, Yuuri smiled.

Viktor’s new haircut represented a new era for him, and for Yuuri. Yuuri would meet Viktor on the ice soon, he was determined.

~~~~

Yuuri did not bring his posters of Viktor to Detroit with him. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t start a _new_ collection of Viktor posters once he arrived.

Phichit teased him for it, “Next thing you know, you’ll be getting a Viktor Nikiforov body pillow!”

Yuuri flushed a deep red, spluttering and protesting.

Phichit laughed, “Kidding! I’m kidding! But seriously though…if you start getting things like body pillows we may need to have a serious talk.”

Yuuri groaned and hung his head in his hands. Phichit clapped him on the back.

Yuuri was worried he might be taking his crush and admiration of Viktor too far. Viktor was his idol – who he aspired to be, doing what Yuuri desired to do. But he was 21 years old, in Detroit, studying and skating so that he could meet Viktor on his level. And he still had posters plastering his wall like a teenager with a crush on a musical idol.

He said as much to Phichit, who frowned. “Don’t worry about that, Yuuri. It’s not like you’re some crazy stalker or something. Viktor is your inspiration. And also your ‘inspiration,’ if you know what I mean…” Phichit waggled his eyebrows and Yuuri groaned again.

Even after having this conversation with Phichit, Yuuri couldn’t help but pause at the sight of the poster in the window of the sporting accessories store. Posters of Viktor – of almost any figure skater – were rare in Detroit, the city being so much more interested in hockey and the Detroit Red Wings. Yuuri usually got his posters online, or as gifts from Minako or Yuuko. This was a rare sight.

The poster in the window was of Viktor, back to back with himself, one picture from when he was in junior’s, and one from more recently. Yuuri was pretty sure he had this one back in Hasetsu, but he didn’t have one here in Detroit. He only hesitated for a moment before stepping into the store. He could buy a duplicate.

Yuuri kept trying to rationalize his purchase as he walked home, poster in hand. He knew Phichit would tease him again, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care. This poster in particular showed how far Viktor had come, in only a few short years, and the visible changes they brought. It motivated Yuuri. He was just a mediocre skater now, even if he was training with one of the best coaches in the world. But soon he would be strong enough to skate on the same ice as Viktor.

He clutched the poster closer to his chest. He would not lose his determination.

~~~~

Yuuri brought a poster of Viktor with him to Sochi for the Grand Prix. It had been an impulse purchase at the airport, but he found it grounded him.

Yuuri was going to see the real Viktor. Yuuri was going to skate on the same ice as him. Yuuri might even meet him. It didn’t make sense that he bought a poster, but Yuuri felt like he needed it.

He propped up the poster on the night stand in his hotel room.

“Tomorrow,” he whispered to it, “Tomorrow everything I’ve worked for, everything I’ve dreamed of…tomorrow…it’s all happening.”

He felt his anxiety deep in his bones. He couldn’t breathe. A feeling of dread sat heavy on his shoulders and in his stomach, as his hands shook.

Yuuri took a deep breath and put his head between his knees. He needed to sleep tonight. He needed to be well rested. He looked once more at his poster.

“Tomorrow, Viktor. Tomorrow.”

~~~~

Viktor sat on his couch at home, contemplating the photo in his hand. He smoothed out its crumpled edges and sighed wistfully.

The photograph was a printout from his phone of the dancing at the Sochi banquet. In the picture, he was leaning back, leg kicked high into the air, supported by the hand of his partner. The Viktor in the photo was grinning; he knew he hadn’t felt that good in a very long time. The man Viktor was dancing with smiled at him like he was the only one in the world – foreheads pressed together, it had felt like coming home.

Viktor ran his fingers across the two men in the photo reverently, a name on his lips.

“ _Yuuri_ …”

Viktor got up from the couch and taped the photo to the wall above his desk.

He didn’t quite know what the future had in store, but he knew he hadn’t seen the last of Yuuri Katsuki.


End file.
